Charles Schuster had a short career in the carnival. By chance he’d lucked up on a horse named Marvin that would dive from 30 feet into a small pool of water. Forelocks stretched out in front of him, The Amazing Marvin would put his head down and fall through the air with grace and beauty. Schuster would hold tight to Marvin’s neck, letting go just before they hit the water.

One night Schuster let go too soon and missed the water, landing on his shoulder on the hard ground, breaking his collarbone. Doing so, Schuster lost the use of his left arm and could no longer jump with Marvin.

Schuster and the Amazing Marvin settled down just outside of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and became sharecroppers. Widowed in his early 30’s Schuster had one daughter, Margaret. “Maggie”, they called her. And poor Maggie was a wholly unattractive young lady.

Her father doted on her, though, and taught her to understand someone’s exterior appearance was never the measure of the beauty of someone’s heart, as that was on the inside.

Thin, showing entirely too much gum when she smiled, she was also born with a cleft palate, making her speaking voice very nasally. When she was a toddler she lost her left eye to infection and was forced to wear a patch.

Maggie was extremely bright, however, and learned to ride Marvin at an early age. On her 12th birthday Schuster built a large stand next to the cow pond and taught her how to dive with Marvin.

Poor as they were Mr. Schuster taught Maggie to find beauty in all things and that money really didn’t matter if you had family and friends to help out. He called Maggie his “cupcake” and taking a piece of blue porcelain from a broken plate, along with the tine from a silver fork the plow turned up one year, her daddy fashioned a tiny cupcake pendant charm. The yellowing porcelain for the icing and the silver for the cup. He hung it on a silver chain that belonged to his wife and gave it to Maggie on her 14th birthday.

The Schuster’s owned one very large, very clever pig named Deely. In times of dire need Schuster would paint a large white spot on Deely’s back and “sell” Deely under the pseudonym “Spot” to an unsuspecting city slicker. Deely never failed to escape and return home to his shack in his pen. Schuster always washed the spot off, just in case the city slicker got wise and came looking. 

“I’m sorry, this is a different pig. His name is Deely. Look, I’ll call him… DEELYYYY!!!”

On her 18th birthday Schuster “sold” Deely to a fellow by the name of Murphy. Schuster didn’t like the man as he smelled a little too much like ladies perfume. Using the money, Schuster bought Maggie a ticket to Birmingham, telling her, “Cupcake, take this money and find a life for yourself in Birmingham. On this farm there just aint no way up unless it’s by the grave.” Schuster still had connections in the circus industry and in the spring he sent his only daughter to a traveling carnival in Birmingham with Marvin.

She protested saying, “No, nanny, no!!!” but he wouldn’t hear it, simply packing her things into a large satchel he made from a bag of grain.

Maggie stepped off the train in the Birmingham Terminal on April 16th, 1962. With tears in her eye, she wandered out onto 16th Street, taking in the sites of the “Magic City.”

On the corner of 16th Street and 9th Avenue stood a large black man, black as coal, so black you could almost see through him. He played a beat up guitar, missing a few strings, and sang a song that went, “Down in the valley, valley so low, hang your head over, hear the wind blow…”

Directly in front of her people were loading and unloading cars, laughing, crying, hugging hello, kissing goodbye.

“Roses love sunshine, violets love dew, angels in Heaven, know I love you…”

 Maggie took receipt of Marvin from the stable car. The two slowly shuffled west.

That evening Maggie met up with the carnival in Avondale in a vacant lot between 32nd and Crestwood.

The carny boss put her to work cleaning the animal stalls and used Marvin for pony rides.

Over time Maggie found herself powerfully attracted to the bearded lady, Toots McGhee. Toots had a marvelously sharp wit and regularly had the boys falling out laughing during poker games.

Maggie was 10 years younger than Toots, and was initially very shy, sitting quietly to Toots’ side. Eventually Toots invited Maggie to stay in her trailer, and over time love took its course, right over age and through bias. They found themselves madly in love. Toot’s took to calling Maggie “Cupcake” as well.

Toots and Maggie traveled the country with Marvin. Occasionally Maggie was able to save enough money to send home, and even more rare, but not never, she was able to go see her daddy when the carnival went through Tuscaloosa.

In ’78 Marvin was lost to colic. Maggie was walking him to his stall when he stopped dead in his tracks.

Dead. Standing straight up. Such was the Amazing Marvin.

Eventually Toots and Maggie moved to a more tolerant climate – socially and meteorologically.

In Santa Fe, New Mexico, they took up residence in an artist community. While on the road with the carnival Toots would occasionally shave, but now she no longer bothered, and the couple were able to pass quite easily as husband and wife. A peculiarly feminine husband and strikingly unattractive wife, but nonetheless, a very happy couple at that.

Toots took up pottery and Maggie, iron working.

One afternoon while gathering sand in the desert for mold making, Maggie was lost to a freak sandstorm – just one day before she was to fly home for her father’s funeral.

Though she was almost inconsolable, Toots resolved to go through with the trip to Tuscaloosa. She suffered a massive heart attack at the airport, collapsed and died in front of the ticket counter, clasping that tiny silver cupcake in her hand.

At Mr. Schuster’s funeral, Deely broke free from Maggie’s Aunt Tizzy, ran wildly down the frontage road, and was hit by a local chicken truck.

Somewhere, among the stars, The Amazing Marvin is galloping across the universe at the speed of light, hooves shining with the power of unconditional love and understanding, pulling a cosmic gypsy trailer, in which Schuster, Maggie, and Toots are playing cards while Deely snores peacefully at their feet.